Now trim?

Okay, so after 2 failed flowering attempts. One because of neighbors, the other because of cops. I am finally about to harvest my first plants. Legally of course.. Colorado

So they are ready, It looks great tri-combs are almost all milky.

Some people suggest a 24-48hr dark time before cutting, does this help at all?
Also I've seen people trim before and after drying, what are the benefits of before or after?

And a picture, this is one of the smaller nugs, the main ones pulled off about 5-6 inches long. Any suggestions/tips for next time? Also I feel as if the only issue I had this time was drying leaves in flowering (Which my grow buddy has explained for me) and smaller buds then id like. On my smallest plant, some of the buds consist 6-7 calyxs. They are still as frosty and awesome looking as the rest, just small. How can I change this next time? Better nutes longer veg? These small nugs are also not below the bush, They had nice unblocked light the whole flower.

Nice looking nug, looks nice and frosty. If you are sure your trichomes are fully developed (you should see at least 10% amber) then just go ahead and harvest! I have not seen any real difference in plants given a dark period before harvest personally. I prefer to trim before drying because the dry leaves tend to make more of a mess, but its really a personal preference. Bigger buds come with more experience in perfecting your nute schedule and growing environment

Look at all that glitter! that tell's me it was not ready yet. Also you want to clean them up some(trim the sugar leaf and stock).
Hope you didn't chop the whole plant? because you got a couple of weeks to go yet. If you had waited a couple more weeks they would have gotten a lot larger.

I agree with popcorn that still has a bit left to bulk up, probably 2 weeks.

What kind of lighting? You might just get better yields from more light.
What do you feed and how much/often. What's your RH? Average Temp?
What style grow is it? Soil,Coco,hydro? Synthetic or Organic?
What kind of available space do you have?

They have been in flowering a few days over 9 weeks, and i have yet to cut them, i was planning on doing it tonight or tomorrow.
I have a 600w hps above these, temps did get a little high, average was 84-86.
This was a soil grow and i was feeding every other day the last few weeks.